Linux's Much Overlooked Calculator -- BC
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From: Sidney Lambe on 22 Mar 2010 11:32 Bc is a handy console calcualator found on most distributions, but very few people know how to use it. (It will do very sophisticated mathematics, too, but that's beyond me.) Create /etc/bc and put this in it: scale=3 That sets the number of decimal places bc will calculate to. In your system-wide bash rc file put: export BC_ENV_ARGS="/etc/bc" alias bc='bc -lq' -lq tells bc to load a math library and not to print the GNU bc header. Newbies, be sure to source that file in any open terminals/x-terms after adding the above to it: $. /etc/<system-wide bash rc file> or $source /etc/<system-wide bash rc file> Ordinary usage: $bc 4 + 8 12 4 - 8 -4 4 * 8 32 4 / 8 ..500 sqrt(8) 2.828 A period will cause bc to substitute the last answer: $bc 3 + 4 7 .. + 3 10 $echo "3 + 3" | bc 6 Somewhat more advanced usage: $bc (3 * 3) / 3 3.000 sqrt(5 * 5) 5.000 You get the drift. Ctrl-c (^C) to quit bc. $/usr/bin/bc -v bc 1.06.95 Copyright 1991-1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Sid Hope this helps. I love this little utility. The X ones just suck. Sid
From: Rui Maciel on 23 Mar 2010 14:24 Sidney Lambe wrote: > Hope this helps. I love this little utility. The X ones just suck. It's as easy to fire up programs such as Octave and Maxima than it is to run bc, which doesn't make bc very competitive. Rui Maciel
From: John Hasler on 23 Mar 2010 15:00 Rui Maciel writes: > It's as easy to fire up programs such as Octave and Maxima than it is > to run bc... I don't find that to be the case. -- John Hasler jhasler(a)newsguy.com Dancing Horse Hill Elmwood, WI USA
From: Sidney Lambe on 23 Mar 2010 17:01 On comp.os.linux.misc, Rui Maciel <rui.maciel(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Sidney Lambe wrote: > >> Hope this helps. I love this little utility. The X ones just >> suck. > > It's as easy to fire up programs such as Octave and Maxima than > it is to run bc, which doesn't make bc very competitive. > > > Rui Maciel Well, that's probably because you don't type well. The only thing I currently use X for is xpdf. At the moment I couldn't tell you where my mouse is. I use the console window manager GNU screen, which has very advanced cut&paste capabilities and is entirely operated from the keyboard. Got 7 open windows right now. X isn't even up. Screen is awesome. You should be familiar with its basic operations in case you find yourself in an X-less environment, like many servers and modems and such. Or rescue disks and embedded systems. It has very good networking capabilities. You can attach to remote screen sessions. Much, much more. Best window manager there is, in my estimation. You can get the manual from gnu.org. You won't master the computer unless you can type well. Cheers, Sid
From: Michael Black on 23 Mar 2010 17:33
On Tue, 23 Mar 2010, Sidney Lambe wrote: > On comp.os.linux.misc, Rui Maciel <rui.maciel(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Sidney Lambe wrote: >> >>> Hope this helps. I love this little utility. The X ones just >>> suck. >> >> It's as easy to fire up programs such as Octave and Maxima than >> it is to run bc, which doesn't make bc very competitive. >> >> >> Rui Maciel > > Well, that's probably because you don't type well. The only thing > I currently use X for is xpdf. At the moment I couldn't tell you > where my mouse is. I use the console window manager GNU screen, > which has very advanced cut&paste capabilities and is entirely > operated from the keyboard. Got 7 open windows right now. X isn't > even up. > What about when you use FF. There was a time when you didn't even claim to use a non-graphic browser. There are actually instances when a graphic browser is appropriate, and those 406 errors I've been getting in recent years is actually becoming a non insignificant factor. And if you don't use a mouse, then you're a fool. GPM is the greatest thing ever, just because one isn't using a GUI doesn't mean there isn't a use for the mouse to cut and paste. Even dealing with directories, it's a whole lot easier to cut and paste than type things in. "FF" is of course your alias for Firefox, as if anyone actually doesn't leave a browser running at all times. Michael |